Laboratory of Industrial Biotechnology and Biocatalysis (InBio.be), Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Coupure Links 653, 9000 Ghent, Belgium.
Biotechnol Bioeng. 2011 Dec;108(12):2923-31. doi: 10.1002/bit.23248. Epub 2011 Jul 12.
Sophorolipids from the non-pathogenic yeast Candida bombicola are applied commercially as biodegradable, eco-friendly surface active agents. These sophorolipids are produced by cultivation in presence of a hydrophobic carbon source and are always constituted of a mixture of structurally related molecules. For some applications however, certain structural variants perform better than others. Acetylation of the sophorolipid molecule is such a parameter that gains interest because of its influence on water solubility, foaming properties, and biological activity. Fully unacetylated sophorolipids therefore are interesting metabolites but cannot be produced in a pure way by conventional cultivation. Here we report the identification of the acetyltransferase gene AT, responsible for acetylation of de novo synthesized sophorolipids in Candida bombicola. By the creation of a Δat deletion mutant, we could create a yeast strain producing purely unacetylated sophorolipids with a yield of 5 ± 0.7 g/L using rapeseed oil as hydrophobic carbon source. In contrast to the chemical production of unacetylated sophorolipids used nowadays, the microbial production leads to mainly lactonic sophorolipids, in addition to minor amounts of acidic sophorolipids.
来源于非病原性酵母 Candida bombicola 的槐糖脂是一种可生物降解的、环保型的表面活性剂,已商业化应用。这些槐糖脂是在存在疏水碳源的情况下通过培养生产的,并且总是由结构相关的分子混合物组成。然而,对于某些应用,某些结构变体的性能优于其他变体。槐糖脂分子的乙酰化就是这样一个参数,因为它会影响其水溶性、起泡性能和生物活性,所以受到了关注。完全未乙酰化的槐糖脂因此是一种很有趣的代谢产物,但不能通过常规培养以纯品的方式生产。在这里,我们报告了乙酰转移酶基因 AT 的鉴定,该基因负责 Candida bombicola 中新合成的槐糖脂的乙酰化。通过创建一个 Δat 缺失突变体,我们可以使用菜籽油作为疏水碳源,在酵母中生产出纯未乙酰化的槐糖脂,产量为 5 ± 0.7 g/L。与目前使用的化学法生产未乙酰化的槐糖脂相比,微生物生产主要产生内酯型槐糖脂,此外还有少量的酸性槐糖脂。